As Henry had usurped the throne, to the exclusion of the lawful heir, he had reason to dread a continued op position to his government. A turbulent and divided aristocracy, inflamed by party zeal and personal hostility, would be ever ready to rise against his authority ; and it would require all his abilities and foresight to ward off the dangers with which he was surrounded. In his first parliament, their fierce passions burst forth in mutual ac cusations and insults ; and traitor and liar resounded from all quarters of the I louse. Henry had as much in fluence and address, as to prevent these animosities from being immediately attended with any serious consequen ces; but he was unable to repress those hostile feelings which they engendered, and which afterwards broke into action, in continual insurrections and conspiracies against himself. He was scarcely seated on the throne, when a combination was formed among the principal nobility for seizing his person at Windsor, and replacing the crown upon the head of Richard. But the attempt failed, through the treachery of the Earl of Rutland, who betrayed his confederates, and warned the king of his danger. The conspirators came to Windsor with 500 horse, but Hen ry had withdrawn to London ; and next day appeared at the head of 20,000 men. His enemies, unable to resist such a force, immediately dispersed to their several homes, in order to excite their followers to arms ; but most of them were intercepted by Henry's adherents. The Earls of Kent and Salisbury were taken at Ciren cester, and executed without ceremony; the Lords Spen cer and Lumley met the same fate at Bristol ; and the Earl of Huntingdon, Sir Thomas Blount, and Sir Bene dict Say, with many others, were taken prisoners, and suffered death. The infamous Rutland presented to the king the head of Lord Spencer, his brother-in-law, as a testimony of his loyalty.
Though an unsuccessful rebellion in general serves only to establish more firmly the throne which it was intended to overthrow ; yet Henry found it difficult to shield himself from the designs of his numerous ene mies. Conscious of the injustice of his title to the crown, lie tried to soothe them by conciliatory measures, rather than stimulate their resentment by severity. Knowing also the influence which pageantry and show has upon the minds of the people, he caused the ceremony of his coronation to be performed with all possible solemnity. A peculiar oil was used upon the occasion; and he affect ed the greatest humility and devotion. While a subject, he was supposed to have imbibed the religious principles of his father, the Duke of Lancaster, who was the great patron of the Wickliffites, or Lollards, in England ; but his throne now required the support of the clergy ; and he endeavoured, by every expedient, to strengthen him self by their influence. He made his faith yield to his interest, and at once procured their favour, by employ ing his authority for the suppression of those opinions which his father had thought it his wisdom to encourage and protect. He obtained an act of parliament against them, in which it was enacted, that if any heretic should relapse or refuse to abjure his opinions, he should be delivered over to the civil magistrate by the church, and be committed to the flames before all the people. A statute, for the suppression of heresy, had been sur reptitiously obtained by the clergy during the former reign, but as it had never received the consent of the commons, it was never put in execution, and was soon after repealed. But being now supported by the king and a formal statute, they proceeded to gratify their ven geance upon their opponents; and William Sautre, rec tor of St Osithes in London, was selected as the first vic tim, who was made to atone for his erroneous opinions by the penalty of fire.
Henry, however, notwithstanding all his prudence and caution, was involved in numerous inquietudes. The Welsh, led on by Owen Glendour, a name revered among that people even to this day, continued for several years to give disturbance to his government ; and the Scots, by their frequent incursions and devastations, kept the northern counties in constant alarm. Henry, in order to chastise those troublesome plunderers, assembled his ba rons and their retainers, and marched to Edinburgh without meeting with any resistance. He there sum moned Robert III. to do homage for his crown ; but the Scots were determined neither to submit, nor give him battle, and, satisfied with this usehiss bravado, he mea sured back his steps to England. In the following year, the Earl of Douglas passed the borders with 12,000 men, and, after ravaging the country, was returning home with his booty, when he was overtaken by the Percies at Homeldon. A fierce battle ensued, in which the Scots were completely routed, and Douglas, and many of the Scottish nobility, fell into the hands of the victors. As soon as the king was inlOrmed of this success, he com manded the Earl of Northumberland not to ransom his prisoners, as he expected, by detaining them in his own power, to make a more advantageous peace with Scot land. This demand was considered by that nobleman not only as an entrenchment upon his right of disposing of his prisoners as lie thoiight best, which was acknow ledged by the laws of war in that age, but also as an insult to one, who had been the means of placing him upon the throne. His discontent had also been inflamed by the refu sal of Henry to allow him to treat for the ransom of the young Earl of Marche, to whom he was nearly allied, and who had been taken prisoner by Glendour. These injuries determined him to withdraw his allegiance from Henry, and support the claim of the Earl of Marche, the true heir to the English throne. For this purpose, he enter ed into an alliance with Glendour, and received assuran ces of assistance from Douglas, whom he restored to li berty. But just when he was ready to take the field, he was seized with a sudden illness at Berwick. His son Harry Percy, however, took the command of the troops, and marched to Shrewsbury, to join the forces of Glendour. The king fortunately had an army in readi ness, which he was about to lead against the Scots ; but as soon as he received intelligence of the rebellion, he hastened to Shrewsbury before the rebels could form a junction. Percy, impatient to engage, did not wait for the Welsh ; and the night before the battle, he sent a mani festo to Henry, wherein, after charging him with perjury, usurpation, and tyranny, he renounced his allegiance, and set the king at defiance. The two armies were nearly equal in numbers, being about 12,000 strong ; and their commanders were both renowned for their military achievements. The battle was consequently long and fiercely contested. Henry and his gallant son, then only about fifteen years of age, exposed themselves in the hot test of the fight ; and Percy and Douglas outrivalled their former deeds, by their desperate valour in that bloody day. Douglas seemed determined that the king should that day fall by his arm. He sought him all over the field; but as Henry had accoutred several of his captains in the royal garb, the sword of the Scottish chieftain devoured many pretended kings. The death of Percy, however, who fell by an unknown hand, decided the victory in favour of Hen ry; and Douglas, with many of the rebel leaders, were taken prisoners.